Club Obi Wan

No, not Beaver, "Beater"

Sure, a good beaver felt will have some water repellant factors, but you really don't want to wear it in a downpour.

Does anyone use a "sacrificial" fedora for occasions when rain cannot be avoided (or predicted)? You know, a beater that you can afford to get wet.

I'd be curious to know if this idea is just ridiculous, or if there are people who select a certain hat for when the weather is looking wet. What kind? How has it held up?

I had an Akubra Adventurer for a while, David Morgan’s Indy-inspired offering that is similar to the Fed IV (Imperial felt, not Deluxe). I got it open crown, shaped it myself with steam, and put it through just about every kind of weather condition I could throw at it. It was inexpensive as far as felt fedoras go, and I can say it was pretty much un-killable, as would be the Fed IV (which I would recommend over the Adventurer because it’s more screen accurate with the taller, straighter crown and shorter, dimensional cut brim). Fed IV is also cheaper if you don’t get killed on shipping from Australia.

In fact, I sold the Adventurer on eBay and the darn thing still looked brand new with a quick brush and interior wipe down.

Long story short, Akubra makes a great “beater” fedora, but they’re also very nice hats. They’re just made for outdoor lifestyle so they can take a beating.

Beaver can definitely take a beating. Now idk about dress weight beaver but the hats I wear are custom made by a buddy down around Austin Texas. They are a heavy-duty beaver felt, I have two hats, one is going on 10 years old and I wear it occasionally, the other I have which is exactly the same is 7 years old and I wear it for all the hiking and archaeological surveys I do. And when I say survey I don't mean hiking a clear-cut path or sitting in an excavation unit, I mean hiking cross country for 15 miles a day through whatever the forest can throw at you. Both hats have been soaked through completely in downpours and river trips. Neither have ever needed a reblock or anything more than a sweatband replacement.

Id argue for beaver felt any day however I don't think dress weight felts would hold up to my lifestyle.

For a long time my Fed IV was my beater hat since most of my hats are higher quality and/or vintage. Nowadays I wear big western hats in the rain. I have the Resistol Cogburn, and a Stetson Boss Raw Edge. Both are Matt Deckard creations as well.

I've worn my Akubra in the rain too: I'd given it a bit of a Scotchguarding too which helped.

Thunderspy wrote:I've worn my Akubra in the rain too: I'd given it a bit of a Scotchguarding too which helped.

This. Akubra plus Scotchguard would be a good way to go.

I do have one fedora I tend to wear if I know it's going to rain particularly hard, but I wear all of my fedoras in all weather (except my straw in the rain of course). The one I tend to think of as my rain hat is a heavier western weight I had reblocked by David Garrison, but I wouldn't call it a beater hat and wear it as my wardrobe dictates (it's grey) not just the weather. I also apply the water repellent John Penman sold for a short while to my hats, but that one especially.


Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Yep, my Akubra Fed IV in Carbon Gray. It's been soaked several times over many hours.

Not fedoras, but I have a couple of western weight cowboy beavers, and I use them hiking and otherwise when I know I'll be stuck outdoors in bad weather for long periods. Surprised at how much they can take.

Wouldn't take a chance on a dress fedora though. Don't get me wrong, I wear my nice dress hats around the city and travel in general regardless of weather (within reason), but I like to think of them as "dress" hats for a reason . That, and the beaver hats I have are just too expensive for me to want to chance it, when a well made western hat is made for that very reason.

With that said, I practically lived in my gray AB fedora for a decade, wearing it religiously in a mountain town I visited almost every other month. It was my apres-ski fedora, and whatever Steve did to it, it never tapered or warped, despite many snowstorms and forest hikes. Not to my eyes at least.

Based on these responses, I may need to pick up an Akubra. Especially now that I know how to measure my head better than when I bought the one I just sold.

Having lost my beater fedora leading a kayaking group, I picked up an oilskin cotton Outback Trading "Grizzly" lid-- wide, wired brim, teardrop crown and chinstrap.

Props to the model for her SA gloves, anyway.
Looks good on the street with my Barbour jacket.

My Penman Raiders is worn in most weathers, though I do have an ABL that I normally wear on humid days. The ABL needs to be reblocked (first reblock since getting it back in 2015, iirc).

In the meantime, I just got a black Akubra Campdraft from Hats Direct. It'll be my humid weather hat. I have its bash loosely based on Arthur Morgan's hat from the video game Red Dead Redemption 2 (I love that game).

Put another notch on the board for the Fed. My Fed IV Deluxe is my "weather hat", although I've encountered a bit of snow in my Raiders Poet and it's done surprisingly well.

And shade88, I may have to look into that Akubra Campdraft. Red Dead 2 and Red Dead Online are up there on my favorites list.

Got a bit of rain today.




Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Not to preach to the Choir but my AKubra Fed 4 lasted 10 years as a beater hat and it was pre-owned when I acquired it.

It survived Texas heat, humid and rain and New england winter, heat, humid, snow and rain.

By the end it was very tight on my head and had tapered some. Now, I didn't give this hat an ounce of love...... so an Akubra 4 with real love might last even longer as a beater.

It's more like I have a hat or two NOT to wear in the rain... because I know they can't take it.

But I do have a beater for times when things might get dirty, or doing really sweaty work. Up until the sweatband shrank, it was my Federation III. That hat could take anything. Well, almost, apparently. Now, I'm using a cheap wool crushable Stetson as a beater, though not long enough for it to look like a beater.

If I expecting a very serious downpour, I generally reach for my beaver AB's or Penman. They can handle the worst that mother nature can dish out, and always bounce back.